Food storage container

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an apparatus for storing food articles. The apparatus comprises a body having a plurality of cavities each being formed to have a size and shape corresponding to a food article to be stored therein and a cover engageable on the body so as to sealably enclose the plurality of cavities so as to form a plurality of compartments therewith.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to containers in general and in particularto a method and apparatus for forming individual sized food storagefreezer compartments.

2. Description of Related Art

Freezing food is a common method of preserving such food for laterconsumption. Commonly frozen food articles include meats such aspoultry, pork, beef, fish or meat alternatives. One common difficultywith freezing food is freezer burn in which the food may becomedehydrated or oxidized due to contact with air. Therefore, in order topreserve the quality of the food article as much as possible it isdesirable that the food article be stored in an air-tight compartment soas to prevent air from coming into contact with the food article. Anadditional difficulty with storing such food articles is that they areoften purchased in quantities that are greater than an individual orfamily would consume during a single meal. Therefore, it is frequentlydesirable to store such food articles in quantities less than wereoriginally purchased and therefore, it is necessary to repackage themfrom the form in which they were purchased.

Current freezer storing methods often use non-reusable packaging such asvacuum packaging, plastic or paper wrapping. Such storage methods may beless environmentally friendly and it is expensive to provide replacementvacuum packages as well as to purchase vacuum sealers.

Existing reusable containers have attempted to address the abovedifficulties by providing a compartment in which to store the foodarticles. However, these current containers are often impracticallylarge for individual portions of meat items that have distinctiveshapes. Examples of such containers may be shown in US PatentApplication Serial No. US2005/0284171 to Harl et al. published Dec. 29,2005. Freezing distinctive shaped items in these current food storagecontainers leaves room for air pockets which contribute to freezer burn.Additionally, placing more than one meat item into a compartment toreduce the air pockets may create other problems such as, it isdifficult to separate items from each other once frozen together and ittakes longer to defrost more than one item when frozen to each otherverses items that are individually frozen. Users are also more likely towaste food if they defrost more than what is required for a particularmeal. Single compartment containers having empty space therein are alsoimpractical as they occupy an excessive amount of space within afreezer.

Other solutions have attempted to provide a plurality of freezinglocations to create individual sized portions such as disclosed inCanadian Patent Application 2,065,820 to Hamielec published Oct. 11,1993 for an ice cube tray. Such devices however do not adequately keepexcessive air from the food article. Such containers are designed foruse with a variety of food articles and are therefore a compromise whenused with each of these food articles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first embodiment of the present invention there isdisclosed an apparatus for storing food articles. The apparatuscomprises a body having a plurality of cavities each being formed tohave a size and shape corresponding to a food article to be storedtherein and a cover engageable on the body so as to sealably enclose theplurality of cavities so as to form a plurality of compartmentstherewith.

The plurality of cavities may be formed in a top planar surface of thebody. The plurality of cavities may be formed in the size and shape of afood article selected from the group consisting of a chicken part, achop, a pattie, a steak, a sausage, ribs, a fish or a fillet.

The body may be formed from a substantially planar sheet of material.The cavities may be defined by vessels integrally formed with the sheetof material wherein the vessels extend out of a plane defined by thesheet of material. The vessels may be flexible.

The body may include a peripheral edge having a support extendingtherefrom for supporting the body on a surface. The support may comprisean annular wall extending in a generally downward direction from theperipheral edge of the body. The wall may extend around substantiallyall of the peripheral edge of the body. The support may comprise cornersupports extending from corners of the top surface.

The cover may include indexing locations corresponding to a bottomsurface of a body to be stacked thereon. The indexing locations maycomprise depressions corresponding to the bottom surface of the body tobe stacked thereon. The indexing locations may comprise ridges locatedso as to position the bottom surface of the body to be stacked thereon.

The cover may include fasteners for securing the cover to the body. Thefastener may comprise a lip on peripheral edge of the cover, the lipbeing adapted to surround a peripheral edge of the body. The fastenermay comprise an upstanding rigid wall extending from the bodyperpendicular to the top surface, the cover being receivable andengageable by the rigid wall so as to retain the cover therein. One ofthe cover or the rigid wall may include a rib extending therefromwherein the other of the cover or the rigid wall including a groovecorresponding to the rib.

The cover may include raised portions extending from a bottom side ofthe cover, the raised portions corresponding to the cavities so as toextend thereinto. The body and the cover may be formed of a materialselected from the group consisting of plastic, heat resistant glass,ceramics, metal and silicone. The cavities may include indicatorstherein corresponding to a quantity of the food article to be storedtherein.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentto those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the followingdescription of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention whereinsimilar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an apparatus for storing foodarticles according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the body of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1showing an edge interlock according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1showing an edge interlock according to a further embodiment of thepresent invention taken along the line 3-3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the body of FIG. 1 having perimetersupports according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the body of FIG. 1 having cornersupports according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an apparatus for storing food articleshaving a pivotally connected cover according to a further embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus according to a first embodiment of theinvention is shown generally at 10. The apparatus comprises a body 12having a plurality of cavities 14 formed therein and a cover 40. Thecavities are sized and shaped to correspond to a particular food article8 that is intended to be contained therein. The cover 40 is selectablysecurable to the body so as to form sealed compartments with each of thecavities 14 as will be more fully described below.

The cavities 14 have a size and shape corresponding to a food article tobe stored therein. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cavities 14 may have asize and shape corresponding to a chicken breast. It will be appreciatedthat other sizes and shapes may also be useful as well for storage ofother food articles, such as, by way of non-limiting example, chickenparts such as thighs, legs, wings, breasts, drumsticks, chops such aspork, lamb or veal, steaks, sausages, ribs, whole fish, fillets such asfish or chicken, patties such as beef burger, turkey burger, veggieburger, cakes, fish patties or potato patties as well as any other typeof meat, meat alternative or other food article. As illustrated in FIG.2, the cavities 14 may have irregular shapes and may therefore bearranged in a pair of parallel interconnected rows. It will also beappreciated that the cavities may comprise regular shapes arranged in aregular or offset array. It will also be appreciated that any number ofrows or columns of cavities may be included on a single body 12.

The body may be formed of a substantially planar sheet 16 of materialdefining a plane 17 as illustrated in FIG. 3. As illustrated, the sheet16 may be substantially rectangular in outline having first and secondlong edges, 18 and 20, respectively, and first and second short edges,22 and 24, respectively, defining a peripheral edge 25. Although thesheet 16 is illustrated and described herein as rectangular, it will beappreciated that other outline shapes may also be possible as well, suchas, by way of non-limiting example, round, square, octagonal,triangular, or irregular.

The sheet 16 of material has a top surface 26 and the cavities may beformed by suspending desired vessels 28 of material below a planedefined by the top surface 26. As utilized herein, the term vesselapplies to any hollow, open topped receptacle, such as a cup shaped,bowl shaped, irregular shaped, thin or thick walled. Although thevessels 28 are shown extending downwardly from the top surface 26 of thebody, it will be appreciated that if the body is rotated to otherorientations, the vessels will extend in other directions correspondingto the orientation of the top surface. The vessels 28 may be integrallyformed with the sheet 16 of the same material or may be formed of adifferent material and secured thereto by any known conventional meanssuch as by way of non-limiting example, adhesives, thermal bonding,welding, fasteners and the like. Although the body 12 is illustrated asbeing formed of a sheet 16 of material, it will be appreciated thatother body types may also be useful such as solid bodies having cavitiesformed therein. The cavities 14 may also include indicators 27 such asembossed lines indicating a quantity of the food article to be storedtherein, such as a weight for that food item as illustrated in FIG. 5.By way of non-limiting example, the indicator 27 may correspond to asingle chicken breast or ¼ lb or ½ lb of ground beef or turkey. It willbe appreciated that the indicator 27 will be positioned at a differentlocation according to the food article to be stored therein. Theindicator may be located on the interior surface of the cavity or may beoptionally, formed of a different colour into the sidewall of the vessel28. Each cavity 14 may include one or more indicators 27.

The cover 40 comprises a substantially planar sheet of material of anoutline corresponding to the outline of the body 12 as described aboveand having first and second long edges, 42 and 44, respectively andfirst and second short edges, 46 and 48, respectively. The cover 40includes a body interlock (not shown in FIG. 1) for engaging the body soas to sealably secure the cover thereto.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a cross sectional view of the apparatus isillustrated as taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2. The vessel 28 mayhave a thickness substantially similar to the thickness of the sheet 16as illustrated in FIG. 3 or may have reduced thickness as illustrated inFIG. 4. As described above, the vessel 28 may be formed integrally withthe sheet 16. Accordingly where the vessel 28 has a constant thicknesswith the sheet, the vessels will be rigid and substantiallynon-deformable. It will also be appreciated that where the vessels 28are formed to have a lesser thickness than the sheet 16, that thevessels 28 may be deformable whereas the sheet remains substantiallynon-deformable so as to permit a user to deform the bottom of the vesselso as to facilitate removal of food articles therein. It will also beappreciated that the vessels 28 may be formed of a different materialthan the sheet 16 so as to permit the vessels 28 to have a differentstrength or rigidity than the sheet. In such embodiments, it will beappreciated that the vessels 28 may be secured as opposed to integrallyformed therewith.

The vessel 28 may have a substantially flat bottom surface 30 asillustrated. Optionally, the bottom surface 30 may be round or any othersuitable shape depending upon the food article to be stored therein.Additionally, as illustrated, the bottom surface 30 may include optionalsurface protrusions 32 for forming a surface pattern in the food articleto be stored therein. The protrusions 32 may be parallel spaced apartribs or a circular or other shaped bulge. By way of non-limitingexample, the protrusion 32 may comprise ribs sized and spaced so as tocreate impressions on the surface of a hamburger patty. The cavity 14may also include a taper angle indicated generally at 62 to facilitateremoval of food articles from the cavity.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the body 12 may include supports 34 extendingdownwardly from sheet at a location proximate to the peripheral edge 25thereof. The support has a bottom distal end 35 adapted to extend beyondthe vessels 28 so as to support the body when rested upon a horizontalsurface such as a counter top or a lower cover 40 when successivestorage containers are stacked. The support 34 may comprise a continuouswall 36 extending around the entire peripheral edge 25 of the sheet asillustrated in FIG. 5 or corner supports 38 as illustrated in FIG. 6, byway of non-limiting example. It will be appreciated that other forms ofsupport projections may also be utilized as are well known in the art.

The cover 40 may optionally include a groove 50 or other similardepression in a top surface 52 thereof corresponding to the location ofthe bottom end 35 of the supports 34. The top surface 52 may alsoinclude a ridge 54 or other similar protrusion located at a locationinside of where the bottom end 35 of the support 34 is intended to reston a cover below it. The groove 50 and/or ridge will assist inpositively locating the bottom end 35 of a support 34 onto a cover belowit to facilitate stacking of storage containers. It will be appreciatedthat the cover may include one, both or neither of the groove or ridge54. In an optional embodiment, the ridge 54 may be located to surroundthe bottom edges of the vessels 28 of a body to be stacked thereon.

The cover 40 also includes a body interlock 56 for securing the cover tothe body. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the interlock 56 may comprise aperipheral wall 58 surrounding the peripheral edge 25 of the body 12.The peripheral wall may extend in a downward direction and include abottom lip 60 adapted to extend under and engage upon the bottom side ofthe sheet 16 so as to secure the cover 40 thereto. The bottom lip 60 mayextend partially or around the entire circumference of the cover 40.Optionally, the cover 40 may be pivotally mounted to the base, such asalong second long edge 20 wherein the bottom lip 60 is located along anopposite side of the cover so as to engage the first long edge 18 of thebase as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The cover 40 may also optionally be sized to be internally surroundedand engaged by a portion of the body 12 so as to retain the cover withina recessed portion thereof as illustrated in FIG. 4. The body mayinclude a distal upturned wall 70 located proximate to the peripheraledge 25 of the body. In such an embodiment, the cover 40 will be sizedto be retained within a recess 76 formed by the upturned wall 70 such asthrough the use of a compression fitting therebetween. Optionally, oneof the cover 40 or upturned wall 70 may include an annular rib 72extending therearound adapted to be received within a groove 74 on theother of the cover or upturned wall. Such an annular rib 72 may assistwith retaining the cover within the recess 76 as well as for sealing thecover 40 within the recess 76.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the cover may also include protrusions 64sized and located to be located into a top portion of the cavities 14.The protrusions 64 reduce the volume of the cavities and complete thesealing of the compartments. The protrusions 64 will also provideadditional structural rigidity to the cover 40. It will be appreciatedthat other surface treatments for increasing the rigidity of the cover40, such as ridges or ribs may also be utilized as are known in the art.It will also be appreciated that seals such as wipers or o-rings mayalso be located around the protrusions 64 so seal them against thecavities 14.

The body 12 and cover 40 may be manufactured from any suitable material,such as, by way of non-limiting example, heat resistant glass, such assold under the trade names Corningware® or Pyrex®, ceramics, plasticssuch as polyethylene, polypropylene polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadienestyrene, polycarbonate, silicones, metals and natural and syntheticrubbers. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, where the body12 is formed of a substantially rigid material, the cover 40 may beformed to be more flexible than body so as to facilitate meshing of thetwo. The body 12 and cover 40 may be formed by any known method such as,machining, forging or casting, molding processes such as injection, blowand compression by way of non-limiting example

The color of the body 12 or cover 40 may be varied depending upon theshape of the cavities 14 and therefore the identification of the foodarticle to be stored therein. The cover 40 or the body 12 may alsoinclude locations for securing labels and the like to identify thecontents thereof according to methods known in the art such as awritable surface or a surface adapted to receive an adhesive label orthe like.

In operation, a user may place a food article, such as a chicken breast,for example in each cavity 14. The user may then secure the cover 40 tothe base 12 so as to form a compartment 78 therewith wherein each foodarticle is sealed within the compartment 78. The storage container maythen be located within a freezer until the user desires one or more ofthe food articles within the cavities. At such time, the user may thenremove the cover and remove the desired number of food articles afterwhich the container may be resealed and returned to the freezer.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of theinvention only and not as limiting the invention as construed inaccordance with the accompanying claims.

1. An apparatus for storing food articles, the apparatus comprising: abody having a plurality of cavities, each of said cavities being formedto have a size and shape corresponding to a food article to be storedtherein; and a cover engageable on said body so as to sealably enclosesaid plurality of cavities so as to form a plurality of compartmentstherewith.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said plurality ofcavities are formed in a top planar surface of said body.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said plurality of cavities are formed inthe size and shape of a food article selected from the group consistingof a chicken part, a chop, a pattie, a steak, a sausage, ribs, a fish ora fillet.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said body is formed from asubstantially planar sheet of material.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4wherein said cavities are defined by vessels integrally formed with saidsheet of material, said vessels extending out of a plane defined by saidsheet of material.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cavities areformed of flexible side walls.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidbody includes a peripheral edge, said peripheral edge having a supportextending therefrom for supporting said body on a surface.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein said support comprises an annular wallextending in a generally downward direction from said peripheral edge ofsaid body.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said wall extends aroundsubstantially all of said peripheral edge of said body.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein said support comprises corner supportsextending from corners of said top surface.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said cover includes indexing locations corresponding to a bottomsurface of a body to be stacked thereon.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11wherein said indexing locations comprise depressions corresponding tosaid bottom surface of said body to be stacked thereon.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 11 wherein said indexing locations comprise ridgeslocated so as to position said bottom surface of said body to be stackedthereon.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cover includesfasteners for securing said cover to said body.
 15. The apparatus ofclaim 14 wherein said fastener comprises a lip on peripheral edge ofsaid cover, said lip being adapted to surround a peripheral edge of saidbody.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said fastener comprises anupstanding rigid wall extending from said body perpendicular to said topsurface, said cover being receivable and engageable by said rigid wallso as to retain said cover therein.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16wherein said one of said cover or said rigid wall includes a ribextending therefrom, said other of said cover or said rigid wallincluding a groove corresponding to said rib.
 18. The apparatus of claim1 wherein said cover includes raised portions extending from a bottomside of said cover, said raised portions corresponding to said cavitiesso as to extend thereinto.
 19. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidbody and said cover are formed of a material selected from the groupconsisting of plastic, heat resistant glass, ceramics, metal andsilicone.
 20. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cavities includeindicators therein corresponding to a quantity of said food article tobe stored therein.